Show
biz veteran Jimmy Durante, late of All Star
Revue, signed on as a regular host, joining the roster of Eddie Cantor,
Martin and Lewis, and Donald O'Connor. Abbott and Costello were to have been included
in the roster, but the latter
comic took ill just before the November 11th episode and wasn't able to return
until February 21st. A couple of special episodes were presented, including an
adaptation of the Broadway musical Anything Goes and The Ice Capades. Guest
hosts included Martha Raye, Perry Como, Ethel Merman, and Gene Wesson.

Series
#

Season
#

Airdate

Host
& Guests

123

4-01

10/4/1953

Hosts:
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Guest: Burt Lancaster, The Skylarks, Sidney Sillman,
Fay McKenzie, Peter Leeds, Eddie Ryder, Byron Kane, Marc Platt, Irving Kaye, Frankie
Branda, Suzanne Ames, Dona Cole, Dick Stabile and his Orchestra Announcer:
Hal Sawyer Note: Dean sings two songs, one on film ("You're the Right
One" from The Caddy) and one live ("That's Amore"). Variety
considered this Martin and Lewis offering "a good show but not from their
top section."Buy
This Episode

Host:
Eddie Cantor Guests: Jack Benny, Connie Russell, Billy Daniel, Sheldon Leonard,
Rex Ramer, Sandra Gould, Peter Leeds,Jack Boyle, Mike Ross, Al Goodman and his
Orchestra Note: This episode is centered around the impending opening of The
Eddie Cantor Story. The show includes a tribute to comedian Willie Shore,
who was to have appeared but was killed in a car accident on October 17. This
was sort of a makeup for Jack Benny, who missed the June 7th episode due to illness.
Both TV Guide and The New York Times list Eddie Fisher as a guest,
but neither Variety nor UCLA (which has the actual kinescope) mention him.

Host:
Bud Abbott Guests: Peggy Lee, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Gene Nelson, Jimmy
Thompson, Pat Horn, The Pied Pipers, Al Goodman and his Orchestra Note: Both
Abbott and Costello were to host, but Costello fell ill the week before and wasn't
able to appear. In place of the team's skits, kinescopes were shown of their past
Comedy Hour performances. Martin and Lewis showed up to help out.

Host:
Martha Raye Guests: Irene Dunne, Cesar Romero, Rocky Graziano Note: At
the time of this episode, Martha Raye had a regular job hosting All
Star Revue once-a-month on Saturday nights (replacing the three-times-a-month
Your Show of Shows). Dubbed "the funniest femme on the teevee spectrum"
by Variety, the comedienne brings along regulars Romero and Graziano (who
plays her boyfriend). TV Guide lists Milton Berle as a guest, but The
New York Times and Variety do not.

130

4-08

11/22/1953

Host:
Donald O'Connor Guests: Ralph Bellamy, Corinne Calvet, Dorothy Dandridge,
Sid Miller, Jack Albertson, Snag Warris, Phil Carris, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: This was the first and only color telecast of The Colgate Comedy Hour.
It was done as an experiment, as the new NTSC system developed by RCA (NBC's parent
company) hadn't yet been approved by the FCC. The show originated from the network's
Colonial Theatre in Manhattan.

Host:
Eddie Cantor Guests: Jimmy Durante, Donald O'Connor, Dennis Day, Connie Russell,
George Gobel, Billy Daniels, Al Goodman and his Orchestra Note: This is a
"year-end salute to show business," with a couple of Eddie's fellow
Comedy Hour hosts along for the ride.

Host:
Donald O'Connor Guests: Beatrice Kay, George Prentice, Scatman Crothers, Sid
Miller Note: This episode, O'Connor's last for The Comedy Hour, features
the entertainer's Las Vegas night club revue. RCA Vice President John West presents
Donald with the Emmy award he won three days before.

143

4-21

2/21/1954

Host:
Gene Wesson Guests: Sonja Henie, Abbott and Costello, Keefe Braselle, The
Jud Conlon Singers, Norman Abbott, Carolyn Jones, Joyce Jameson, Mike Ross, Glenn
Strange, Will J. White, Al Goodman and his Orchestra Announcer: Hal Sawyer
Note: This was Lou Costello's first appearance on the show since his illness.
He does a sketch with Bud in which he encounters both Frankenstein's monster (Glenn
Strange reprising his role from A&C Meet Frankenstein) and the Creature
From the Black Lagoon. In one of her earliest TV roles, Carolyn Jones appears
in a sketch about what would happen if coffee were outlawed. Keefe Braselle played
the title role in The Eddie Cantor Story.

144

4-22

2/28/1954

"Anything
Goes" Guests: Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, Bert Lahr, Sheree North, Arthur
Gould-Porter, Al Goodman and his Orchestra Note: This is an adaptation of
a Broadway musical that opened in 1935 and starred Ethel Merman. It was written
by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse and featured songs by Cole Porter. The producer
of this version is Jule Styne, and the executive producer is Leland Hayward.

Hosts: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Guests: The Skylarks, Tom Ache-Latt, Sylvia Nift, Barney Holton, Phil Seatcover,
The Nick Castle Dancers, Mary Ellen Kay, Byron Kane, Paul Power, Dick Stabile
and his Orchestra Note: Variety
thought the music in this outing was superior to the comedy sketches. The boys
do "That's Entertainment" (with special lyrics by Sammy Cahn) and "A
Shine on Your Shoes" from The Bandwagon and "Every Street's a
Boulevard In Old New York" and "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket"
from their upcoming musical film Living It Up. In one sketch, Dean is a
newlywed and Jerry an annoying bellboy, and in another, Dean runs a lonely hearts
club with Jerry as a new member (and Dean's uncle Leonard Barr in a bit part).
Jerry goes it alone when he conducts The Skylarks singing "Danny Boy."
Vocalist Fran Warren appears in a filmed Halo Shampoo commercial.